“The timing (of Ma’s decision) was catastrophically bad for Conservatives, because you can’t bring everyone in and (say), rah, rah, everything is OK,” said one senior Conservative source, granted anonymity to discuss internal party politics. The source predicted that Carney will have a majority by spring 2026 “one way or another,” meaning they expect at least one more Conservative MP...
For the third time in a month a Conservative jumps ship, with two of them joining the Liberals. Will there be more? The Liberals need at least one more to form a majority. All this is happening while the government struggles to pass new legislation. Ottawa starts to close down for the holidays and Good Talk assesses where things stand...
If there’s one person who won’t be receiving any Conservative MP Christmas cards, it’s Markham–Unionville MP Michael Ma. Article content In fact, if anything, Conservatives want the floor-crossing new Liberal MP to return a Christmas gift he already received.
The deal to have Conservative MP Michael Ma cross the floor to become a Liberal MP was brokered by Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson.
After the Liberals convinced another Conservative MP to cross the floor, Government House leader Steven MacKinnon says there are more Conservative members who are “extremely frustrated” with the leadership of the party. “All of my colleagues here have the same experience of speaking to Conservative members, unfortunately a group which is in the minority in their group, who are extremely...
Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell-lines) hybrid telephone and online random survey of 1,009 Canadians, 18 years of age or older, between November 29th and December 2nd, 2025, as part of an omnibus survey.
Like snow blanketing the country, a quieting has settled upon caucus rumblings over the leadership of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. But as the days count down until the January Conservative convention, and his leadership review, is Poilievre standing on solid ground or skating on thin ice? New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds a majority (58%) of recent...
The Liberal government has cribbed from the Conservative playbook as opponents on the left and right have faltered. But in 2026 they may face new challenges – including a renewed opposition
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Prime Minister Mark Carney needs to stop trying to manipulate his way to the majority government Canadians denied him in the spring election by courting floor-crossers. On Thursday, Ontario MP Michael Ma became the second person to leave the Conservative benches and join the Liberals in as many months, following Nova Scotia MP Chris d'Entremont...
Canadian financier Mark Wiseman has officially been selected by Prime Minister Mark Carney to take up Canada’s most important diplomatic role as ambassador to the United States as the country prepares for tough USMCA trade talks, two sources say. The appointment was approved by cabinet on Thursday, the sources said. The Prime Minister is to make the announcement in the...
Across Ontario, too many people are making impossible medical choices. Ontarians are splitting pills, skipping doses, or going without heat or food to afford life-saving medication. It is a quiet crisis that exposes a glaring gap in our universal health care system: prescription drugs are still not universally covered. Convened by Canadian Doctors for Medicare, we’ve joined a multi-party group...
It’s a grand bargain that feels like a fire sale. That at least is how some have characterized the Memorandum of Understanding on energy that was signed late last month by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
To illustrate the incredible upheaval that federal politics in Canada has experienced over the last 12 months, one could do worse than to simply look at the last two Liberal caucus holiday parties. A year ago, the Liberal caucus — then numbering 152 members — gathered just a day after Chrystia Freeland's stunning resignation from cabinet. Justin Trudeau tried to...
Just a few short weeks ago, I was sitting in the United Nations listening to statements from the Trump administration emphasizing that the United States would never agree to anything that limited state sovereignty. This assertion — echoing the recent use of sovereignty as a fig leaf by autocratic states to justify a multitude of sins against international law and...
In the late 1990s, a Toronto man named Mark Harding was busily spreading his “gospel” around the city. His proselytizing took the form of printed pamphlets and telephone messages, which warned that Muslims in Canada are “like raging wolves in sheep’s clothing,” and “full of hate, violence, and murder.” Mr. Harding’s materials suggested that all Canadian Muslims are actually terrorists...
The transition Canada is undergoing—including the reshaping of “the rules-based international order and the trading system that powered Canada’s prosperity for decades”—is “a true generational shift,” he said. And it was in this spirit, he told the members of Parliament in the House, that he presented this year’s budget, the first from the Mark Carney Liberal government. Champagne then quoted...
STEVEN GUILBEAULT WAS on Tout le monde en parle on November 30, downing a shot at the end for comic relief after catching his throat as he struggled to explain what it feels like to quit a cabinet job over Prime Minister Mark Carney’s energy deal with Alberta. I think he gave a good account of himself. Not for the...
Bill C-15, “An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget,” is 634 pages long. It creates four new Acts, repeals six more, and amends at least 45 others, on matters ranging from stablecoins to broadcasting to the marketing of freshwater fish. It is, in short, an omnibus bill, the sort with which we have grown all too familiar in...
I want the pipeline to the West Coast to succeed. And I want the federal Conservatives to knock off the Liberal government. So why do I agree with the Liberals that Tuesday’s opposition motion in the Commons to get MPs to show support for the pipeline was a “cheap political stunt” and “immature?”
It is a rare thing to have one’s mind changed by a politician. In the words of the late prime minister Pierre Trudeau, MPs are “nobodies…like pawns in a chess game.” And yet, as I prepared to write a column questioning the Conservative opposition to C-9, the legislation designed to combat hate crimes and intimidation, I reconsidered my position after...
Earlier this week, Party Québécois (PQ) leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon told Quebec journalists that they were not doing a good job at covering and exposing what he depicts as the anti-Quebec policies of the federal government, which he dismissively calls “the federal regime,” as if it was some sort of dark foreign entity. This tirade against a key component of...
This was a heavy year for liberal democracy, as the second Trump presidency in the United States began actively dismantling democratic institutions in that country. If 2024 was the year of creeping authoritarianism, 2025 saw it in full bloom. Across the border in Canada, there has been a false sense of security with the rise of Mark Carney to the...
There’s an ill wind blowing in from the United States, one that should send a chill down the backs of working women in Canada. It seems that our neighbours are trapped in a time machine of their own invention, which aims to send women back to the kitchen with a baby on either hip. Their tech and political elites muse...
When the Conservatives tabled a motion asking the House of Commons to "take note" of the memorandum of understanding signed between the federal and Alberta governments and express its support for the construction of a pipeline, the Official Opposition presumably hoped, one way or another, to make trouble for the Liberal government. According to the logic of these things, the...
Mark Wiseman, who is expected to become Canada’s new ambassador to Washington, is a rarity. The financier and corporate executive would be the first in the 100-year history of the position to be appointed without any experience as a diplomat or high-powered politician. In this respect, he’s uniquely unqualified. For Prime Minister Mark Carney to put a rookie in the...
Twenty years ago, I released “Ontario: A Leader in Learning,” a report that presented a simple truth: a prosperous province and country invest in knowledge, skills, and innovation. We recognized then — as we must today — that long-term economic success depends on the strength of our colleges and universities. The current mix of policies — tuition freezes, an uncertain...
In another life, Pierre Poilievre would have been a lawyer. The Conservative Leader is very good at creating a narrative, at prosecuting his case, and at setting traps for wayward leaders of other parties. He did that roughly one year ago, when he used the exact words articulated by then-NDP leader Jagmeet Singh when he walked away from the supply-and-confidence...
In all the flurry this week of trying to get bills passed in a near-paralyzed House of Commons, Mark Carney’s office did a rare thing — it rebuked one of its own ministers in public. It came amid a back-and-forth over whether the Liberal government was going to come to an agreement with the Bloc Québécois on hate crime legislation...
A politician’s worst nightmare is to be thought of as yesterday’s breakfast by voters. When prime minister, Mark Carney, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on energy development with the premier of Alberta two weeks ago, federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was made to look as relevant to the big issue of the day as the leader of the NDP...
It’s a grand bargain that feels like a fire sale. That at least is how some have characterized the Memorandum of Understanding on energy that was signed late last month by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
Mark Carney has apparently wanted to be Canada’s prime minister since he was old enough to seriously entertain such ideas. But you still have to wonder what he must have been thinking about his job as he sat under the global spotlight watching United States President Donald Trump get jiggy with it at the World Cup draw in Washington, D.C...
Whether the government’s argument will hold water, only a Federal Court judge, who stands to gain $28,000 by saying it doesn’t, can know
The battle over Bill C-9, the federal government’s proposed anti-hate law, has blown up a cultural divide that not only pits Quebec against the rest of Canada, but seriously questions Ottawa’s willingness to tackle hate crimes. If Prime Minister Mark Carney gets the balance wrong, he risks both empowering hatemongers and fanning the flames of Quebec separatism — at a...
Ten months before he resigned from Mark Carney's cabinet, Steven Guilbeault vouched for the then Liberal leadership contender. "I've known Mark for many years. We've worked together on issues of green energy, transition, fighting climate change and the role of the financial sector in fighting climate change," Guilbeault told reporters when he endorsed Carney's candidacy to lead the party in...
The Liberal government has agreed to amend the Criminal Code to remove religious exemptions from the country’s hate speech laws, hoping to secure the Bloc Québécois’ support for its Bill C-9. This has prompted outcries from faith communities as well as the Official Opposition: that the move is an assault on freedom of expression and freedom of religion. Currently, the...
Anyone who thought negotiating a productive new Canada-United States trade deal with the Trump administration was in the offing will have been thoroughly disabused of that idea after reading the National Security Strategy (NSS) released late last week in Washington. The NSS — the production of which from the executive branch is mandated by federal law — is also, in...
Former four-term MP Rahim Jaffer says he’s thinking about running for the Edmonton area seat currently held by departing Conservative Matt Jeneroux. Jaffer told National Post that he saw the stars aligning for a possible comeback when Jeneroux announced last month he’d be resigning from Parliament, noting the news eerily dovetailed with a development in his personal life.
The federal government announced Friday that it's buying six new Global 6500 jets from Bombardier to replace its existing fleet of four CC-144 Challengers. A government statement said the $753-million contract includes production, training for aircrew, maintenance personnel and any military modifications that will be required. The jets will be built and maintained in Canada, where the government said it...
Government House leader Steven MacKinnon said Friday there are other MPs in the Conservative caucus who are "extremely frustrated" with the political direction being taken by their party. Questioned by reporters the morning after MP Michael Ma left the Conservatives to join the Liberal caucus, MacKinnon said a handful of Conservatives have shared their frustrations with Liberals privately. Several Conservatives...
From Stampede sit-down to key Grey Cup call: The inside story of how two governments came to an agreement on pipelines, carbon capture, emissions reduction and more The stark white room looked like an ultra-clean kitchen. Article content On one side of a long table, inside a conference room overlooking the South Saskatchewan River, sat Alberta’s premier and two senior...
Prime Minister Mark Carney touted his “big, broad, and growing Liberal tent” on Thursday night, buoyed by another MP jumping ship from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s caucus to join his, a year after the party appeared to be in dire straits. “Some of you – and I salute you – have been Liberals your whole life. Some of you apparently...
The first segment of the proposed Alto high-speed rail project will run between Montreal and Ottawa. That’s according to Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon, who spoke at a press conference in Gatineau, Que., on Friday. The full project, if built, would move passengers between Montreal and Toronto in just three hours on trains travelling up to 300 kilometres per hour. MacKinnon...
Conservative MP Michael Ma, who represents the Ontario riding of Markham-Unionville, is crossing the floor to the Liberal Party, according to a statement released Thursday night. Ma, who was first elected in this year’s federal election, now brings the Liberals one seat shy of a majority with 171 seats. “After listening carefully to the people of Markham–Unionville in recent weeks...
The polling done exclusively for the Toronto Star shows the Liberals and the Conservatives tied at 41 per cent. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s personal popularity took its first major hit in Abacus Data’s most recent polling, while the overall numbers still show a neck-and-neck race between the Liberals and Conservatives. The polling done exclusively for the Toronto Star shows the...
Like snow blanketing the country, a quieting has settled upon caucus rumblings over the leadership of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. But as the days count down until the January Conservative convention, and his leadership review, is Poilievre standing on solid ground or skating on thin ice? New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds a majority (58%) of recent...
Democrats point to Trump's policies hurting American businesses. The drop in Canadian tourism to the United States in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's actions is hurting American businesses in several states, a new report by a congressional committee has found. The report, prepared by the Democrat minority of the U.S. Congress's joint economic committee, warns that states along the...
Canada’s first high-speed rail line, between Quebec City and Toronto, will start with a shorter segment linking Montreal and Ottawa, sources say. Two senior government officials told The Globe and Mail that the plan will be announced Friday by Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon and Martin Imbleau, the CEO of Alto, the Crown Corporation responsible for overseeing the project. The Globe...
A member of the Canadian Armed Forces has been arrested and charged in a joint police operation looking into foreign interference and security of information. Master Warrant Officer Matthew Robar, a member of the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command, has been charged with multiple offences under the National Defence Act and others.
Aaron Gunn, a Conservative MP first elected in April, says he is “seriously considering” a bid to seek the leadership of the British Columbia Conservatives. The job opened up last week when John Rustad, a former provincial cabinet minister, stepped down amidst intense pressure from members of his caucus. Mr. Gunn, who represents North Island-Powell River, said Wednesday he will...
The House of Commons has started its winter break -- without the government's lengthy budget implementation bill becoming law. House leader Steven MacKinnon says the past 11 weeks of the fall sitting have seen "very hard work" by the government to protect jobs and reduce the cost of living. He accuses the opposition Conservatives of trying to prevent further progress...
The CEO of the Canadian Museum of Immigration in Halifax has stepped down after a federal investigation led to allegations Marie Chapman had bullied staff and created an environment of fear that left many employees emotionally damaged. The museum's board of trustees issued a statement confirming Chapman had decided to retire earlier this month and then chose to leave her...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's government has wrapped up a fall legislature sitting featuring landmark legislation that raised questions on where political authority should end and the rule of law begin. Smith's government invoked the Charter's notwithstanding clause four times in two separate bills, overriding citizen rights to shield the legislation from successful court challenges. The government first used the clause...
Kirsten Hillman's comments come after top U.S. negotiator floated separate deals with Canada, Mexico. Canada's ambassador to the U.S. is downplaying signals from the Trump administration that it's considering breaking up the three-way North American free trade agreement into separate deals with Mexico and Canada. Kirsten Hillman, who also serves as Canada's lead negotiator in trade talks with the U.S....
Quebec Liberal Leader Pablo Rodriguez says he's not going anywhere and he can still win the next election despite an ongoing crisis within the party. But several prominent Liberals are now calling for the leader to step down or to reconsider his future. They say the crisis has damaged the party with less than a year to go until the...
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe announced a big shakeup of his cabinet, introducing new faces, dropping veterans, while mixing and matching job titles. "Nearly half of our government caucus was first elected in 2024, but I didn't want to bring too many brand-new members into cabinet right after the election," Moe said in a statement Thursday as the new cabinet was...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is pushing back on the suggestion that the U.S. may be considering pulling out of North America's trilateral free-trade pact. When The Canadian Press asked the prime minister if he was open to separate bilateral trade pacts if the U.S. withdraws, Carney replied, "That's not what they're saying." U.S. Trade Representative Jamison Greer said in a...
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is “proud” after its “100-day Service Improvement Plan” doubled the number of unique calls answered from just 35 per cent to more than 70 per cent, but officials say they “will never be in a position to answer 100 per cent” of calls. While committing to maintain that 70 per cent, Melanie Serjak, the CRA’s...
While U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra says Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is free to do as it wants with its review of purchasing the F-35, he says the debate is nevertheless irritating. Carney ordered a review of its F-35 purchase back in March, shortly after becoming prime minister, with his then-defence minister saying Carney had done so to...
Recipients of a prestigious medal who were nominated by Ontario MPPs gave about five times more in political donations to the governing PC party than they did to the opposition NDP, according to records analyzed by CTV News. And for that subset of recipients of the King Charles III Coronation Medal – which include a dentist and PC donor whose...
Army commander suggests rifles expected to be sourced from domestic supplier. A program intended to replace the entire stock of the Canadian military’s aging assault rifles is being sped up, CBC News has learned. An internal Department of National Defence presentation references a move to quickly order the first tranche of weapons under the Canadian Modular Assault Rifle program. The...
The NDP wants the Carney government to change the law to give it more resources, arguing that would make Parliament work better as the Liberals struggle to advance their agenda through a divided House of Commons. Speaking to reporters Wednesday, interim NDP leader Don Davies urged the Liberals to rethink proposing legislation that would lower the 12-seat threshold for official...
Opposition parties are warning Prime Minister Mark Carney against appointing a long-time friend and wealthy financier as Canada’s ambassador to Washington. The U.S. envoy post opened after Ambassador Kirsten Hillman announced Tuesday that she will leave Canada’s most important diplomatic position in the new year. A source has told The Globe and Mail that Canadian financier Mark Wiseman, a close...
The House of Commons could rise as early as Thursday for the winter break -- without the Liberals passing their lengthy budget implementation bill. The House calendar officially has MPs in their seats until Friday but they could agree to break for Christmas before the end of the day. They are scheduled to return to the House on January 26...
The minister in charge of Canada-U.S. trade says he has no reason to believe the Trump administration is preparing to tear up the free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, even though the U.S. president and some of his associates have suggested they may consider withdrawing from the pact. “We believe, based on our conversations with the Americans, that for...
The Canada Revenue Agency is looking to hire or rehire about 1,700 call centre workers over the next few months to manage an influx of calls during the upcoming tax season. Melanie Serjak, an assistant commissioner at the CRA, told reporters Wednesday the agency is aiming to reach a total of about 4,500 agents to handle a "very high forecast"...
Danielle Smith has become the second Alberta premier - and the first in almost 90 years - to face a citizen-led petition drive to get her removed from her seat in the legislature. Smith and two more of her United Conservative Party caucus members saw recall campaigns officially approved and launched Wednesday by Elections Alberta. In total, 20 in the...
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- Many political candidates like to talk up their resume in their stump speech.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump successfully harnessed voter anxiety over the economy, immigration and crime last year to retake the White House -- and lift plenty of other Republicans into office with him. But as the party tries to keep its grip on complete control in Washington, that strategy may be harder to replicate.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- A grand jury declined for a second time to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday, refusing to resurrect a mortgage fraud prosecution encouraged by President Donald Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. (AP) -- Mike Lindell, the fervent supporter of President Donald Trump known to TV viewers as the "MyPillow Guy," officially entered the race for Minnesota governor Thursday in hopes of winning the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.
The federal government says it is keeping a close eye on lethal strikes by American forces on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean, while continuing with operations in the region. Canada has conducted Operation Caribbe — an anti-drug trafficking mission in partnership with the United States Coast Guard — since 2006. The Department of National Defence says that mission has...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in Washington Friday as the future of the continental trade agreement hangs in the balance. The 2026 World Cup draw will mark the first time all three leaders have gathered in person. It comes ahead of next year's mandatory review of the...
The European Union says Canada will need to pay 10 million euros to join a defence procurement agreement with the continent -- a price tag that is raising questions about how much investment the pact will generate. Canada this week officially joined the 150-billion euro program called Security Action for Europe, or SAFE, which is part of the ReArm Europe...
Former federal minister Chrystia Freeland says Ukraine can become an economic juggernaut and boost European economies by taking up the opportunities it missed after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Freeland, appointed in September by Prime Minister Mark Carney as his special envoy for the reconstruction of Ukraine, gave her first major speech in Canada about the role on Tuesday.
The government is pledging another $235 million in funding for Ukraine, with National Defence Minister David McGuinty and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand announcing Canada's latest commitments. McGuinty says Canada will work with NATO allies to purchase a package of critical military capabilities sourced from the United States valued at around USD $500 million. Canada's contribution to the Prioritised Ukraine...
Even modest Canadian engagement with China may be judged less on its merits than on how it is interpreted in the U.S. within a framework designed to ‘wind down adversarial outside influence.’
On November 4th, Budget 2025 shifted the Carney government’s policy priorities to economic growth and national defence in response to a rupture in Canada-US trade relations and new NATO commitments. Public finance with a focus on capital investment is the principal instrument of change. In line with this strategy, a closer look at Canada’s sagging productivity suggests the next budget...
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
Stephen Thorne has died. The bitter, unexpected death of a tough journalist who wrote about death but couldn’t report on his own. He’d have written a damn fine story about it. I was his boss for years, in Halifax and Ottawa, though Stephen had no time for bosses. He followed his nose for stories whether or not anybody asked for...
The Canadian government has avoided commenting on the United States’ controversial targeting of alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Caribbean waters.
I went back to Ottawa this week. It’s been a while since I’ve been in the nation’s capital to talk about peace issues, so when the Senate of Canada contacted me, I had to go. Prime Minister Carney’s Budget 2025 is making its way through Parliament, and the Senate’s Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs asked me and...
In this episode of "It's Political," the Toronto Star's Ottawa bureau reporter Ryan Tumilty and deputy bureau chief Alex Ballingall join host Althia to discuss the year in Canadian politics and what to look ahead to in 2026. What to make of Prime Minister Mark Carney's first year in office and how long can his minority government survive?
Kapelos, Herle, Lilley, a story from me about changing times, and a singing Bob Rae. Truly, this year our stocking runneth over
At Issue this week: How much did Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals actually accomplish this sitting? What ambassador Hillman’s resignation means for U.S. trade negotiations. And cabinet ministers quietly get sweeping new powers in Parliament.
Parliament may be heading into winter break, but a wave of ambassadorial openings in Washington, London and Brussels could upend the fragile political math for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s minority government. Nick and Mickey also track Steven Guilbeault’s decision to break with Liberal policy — while sticking around as a Liberal MP; the Conservatives’ recent momentum; and interview U.S. Ambassador...
